Fish rake



Patented July 15,-

grms-inventionrelat's'to'thlart ornshi'ngand lrasffor,4 its primary aim "the provision of a specially-designed and formed hand tool adapted to effectively catch herring', candleshgsm'elt and Vilshjof" likecharacter Where vthe saine` arev offa f sh for market; but the rake'sof the type here'- tofore emplovedrhave ,notbeenieritirely satisfactorybecause of the highJ percentage of ,loss due tothe` fish escaping from theimpaledcondition ,as the rake brings the' same( to'fthe surface. and

'I Jfcgint ofcollection.

A f ,One `oftlfie important' aimsofj this inventionfis 'to provide 'a 'fisnrakecapable of catchingnerring, candleflsh, smelt or the like and having the ability to hold the same impaled on the teeth of the rake, regardless of the Way in which the sh react to the impaling action or the manner in which the operator manipulates the rake while it is raised to the surface to bring the catch into a boat or collecting receptacle.

Other objects of this invention are to provide a fish rake of the aforementioned character having a series of specially-formed and disposed teeth; a head portion contoured with respect to the mounting of the teeth to permit drawing the rake head through the water with a minimum amount of resistance; and a complete body, including not only the head portion but a continuing handle portion, all of which combine to present a desirable, unique and exceptionally effective fishing tool.

Other objects of the invention, particularly with regard to the manner of mounting and relating the double row of teeth will appear during the course of the following specification, referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an edge elevational view of the sh rake made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a transverse, cross sectional view taken on the line III-III of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevational view of a part of the head portion constituting the entire sh rake; and,

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on line V-V of Fig. 4.

In the embodiment of the fish rake chosen for BAKE a annimmt Sfiber 11, 1,959. seri geminis, (onzer-rer) Taylor,... j! 1. i

illustration, the numeral l Q designates.. the `lhan'- dle'portion-of the elngatedbodyand I 2Vdesign'ates thehead'por-tion formed in cross lsection-as clearly illust-ratedk inFig. 5,. contouring of the vhead port-ien; vIil--isimportant,v and thea-nor#- inally leading'fedge I'4- thereof is-curvedout wardly and'bajckwardly from-'the double row of teethglate'r'to'bedescribed.r j v lhe#surface. of' the opposite siele'fofv head-'portion :i2 is-*fc'irrned of two opposed', converging, flat surfaces kvI Guof like angularity and areaent wl'i'icli merge vat a relativelynnarrovv, longitudinal,

tween 'them- Aajgflat 's1 1r fa ce `2|l' 1 to complete" the streamlined cross; sectionalshape off head portion i2," Such: ja' coni'zour` ,is "cfg extreme impor'- tancebecause,u when the rake'is drawn'through the water during the operation offirnpalingltne iish on the teeth thereof, the resistancegi's, mini'- 'mizedfthlush they emplevment Gisiwh, conm-11,1,- ingasjust defined# The handle portion l0 of the body is of a cross sectional contour such as shown in Fig. 3. This handle ,portion is grasped by the operator. and. the form illustrated is found to be advantageous because of the opposite hat surfaces 22 which permit the iisherman to determine that the hereinafter-defined teeth are pointed in the direction of travel when the sweep of the rake takes place.

The specially-designed and disposed teeth are arranged in a double row longitudinally along the median line of head portion l2, and these teeth 211 are anchored in head portion I2 to project forwardly and outwardly toward handle portion I il. Alternate teeth 24 of the double row thereof are laterally inclined in opposite directions to a sufficient degree to cause the adjacent teeth of the double row to cross each other substantially at the zonevof juncture thereof Tv'vith head portion I2. The manner of disposing the teeth with respect to the lateral angularity is clearly illustrated in Fig. 5. Thus, the teeth are inclined in two directions, and the outermost sharp ends thereof are spaced apart as shown in Fig. 5.

In constructing the rake, the body should be substantially 16 long, and the head portion l2 should be about 48 long to carry 64 (more or less) needle-point teeth made of non-corroding material and set at least 1/2 deep into the material from which the body of the rake is made. The teeth 24 should be spaced about 1% apart, and the angularity should be such as to cause the outer sharpened end of each tooth to be subwhen considering thev planes inwhich the endsv of the teeth lie; andfunder such conditions, a pierced fish is unlikely to accidentally escape.

In practice, the rake is pulled through the water by the operator in an arcuate path, usually upwardly, and the angularity of teeth 24 will cause the fish to be struck by the ends ofthe teeth in a way that will hook the same rather.V than bend rearwardly and passthereover. The

angularityr of teeth 24 creates a wedging' action 4 tion and a head portion; and laterally-projecting teeth mounted on the head portion and projecting from one surface thereof, said teeth being arranged in-a double-row along the longitudinal median line of the said head, said teeth being inclined forwardly and outwardly toward the said handle portion, the surface of the body along the head portion thereof from which the teeth project being curved outwardlyi and backwardly from the doublerow of teeth-5i e? 2. A sh rake of the character specified comprising an elongated body having a,v handle pork tion and a head portion; and laterally-projecting teeth mounted on the head portion' and projecting from one surface thereof, said teeth being arranged in a double row along the longitudinal median line of the said head, said teeth being inclined forwardly and outwardly toward the said between the body of the fish, teeth 24 and head portion I2 that tightly retains the fish in place until properly removed.- Y

I 4It has been found in `practice that this rake will catch a greater number of fish than the rake: previously employed where the teeth were not arranged as hereinabove defined;V and, further, fewer sh are cut and crippled and rendered commercially useless or escape to die. The dis'- tance between the ends of the double row of teeth 24,v also, insures a wider path being raked through the school of sh, and a greater yield is thereby assured.

It is realiz/edA that ash rakes having physical characteristics diiferent from those above deiscribed and illustrated in the drawing may be vmade without departing Vfrom the scope of the yappended claims or spirit of the invention.

Having thus Vdescribed the invention, what is claimed as new'and desired toV be secured by Letters-.Patent is:

rvfish rake of the character specified comprising an elongated body having a handle por- REFERENCES CITED.

i The `followingreferences are of record'inthe .flleof this patentp g Y Y Y UNITED .STATES PATENTS 1 77 Number 4Name n Date" Re. 19,006 Grayesf.l 'Nov 21, 1933 531,722 Hart ,Jan. 1,V 1895 1,598,514 Benner ""Aug. 31, 1926 

